


Thank You

by thatonenerdygeek



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Angst, Atlas CEO Rhys, Explicit Language, Fluff and Angst, M/M, One Shot, a shit ton of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-26 18:39:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7585591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatonenerdygeek/pseuds/thatonenerdygeek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Helios' crash, Rhys had become the CEO of Atlas. And months later, he was able to bring Jack back. </p><p>Jack, however, still had a lot to sort out now that he was in his new body.</p><p> </p><p>  <em>"I could have saved her, Rhys, I could have saved her."</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Thank You

**Author's Note:**

> So, this all started when I saw this beautiful fanart on Tumblr - http://jackdanielswithrice.tumblr.com/post/147904807520/breaking-point-new-u-i-dont-know-how-exactly
> 
> I'm not usually one to write much angst but I couldn't stop thinking about this ever since seeing that picture. I'm also not one to usually write one shots (kinda tempted to make this into an actual fic though, what do you think???) but here it is anyway! 
> 
> Unbeta'd as always.

“Hello, Jack.”

There was no response.

It had been a good few months since what happened to Helios. In those few months, Rhys had picked himself back up, taken over Atlas, reunited with the crew and most importantly, found a way to get Jack’s AI into a body. Cloning someone who was already long dead wasn’t easy, but Atlas had the technology and equipment to make it possible. However, when it came time to put the AI into said body, Rhys only watched from afar. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t afraid of what Jack would do once he woke up. Even when he was just an AI, he was able to take control of Rhys so easily, nearly killing him however many times. So yeah, being around a mostly human Jack after all of that? Didn’t really sound like the best idea.

But a week went by after the successful...’operation’. All of the men and women looking after Jack were baffled by how...calm he was. The man barely spoke unless it was to ask for something like a drink or food. Otherwise, he was totally silent. He had apparently asked about Rhys at least once a day, wondering where he was or when they would meet again. And after a little over a week of little to no problems, Rhys thought he might as well please Jack for at least a moment and go to see him.

And there he was. Jack was far more intimidating than he remembered. The clone was exact, mask, tattoos and all. Despite not speaking, he still gave off such a sense of strength and power. The kind of power that could rip Rhys apart if he wasn’t careful.

“Jack?” He tried again, his brows now furrowing in confusion. The man was just standing in front of the mirror with a blank stare. Rhys knew he could see his reflection, Jack knew he was there. But there was nothing. And it was more than a little unsettling.

Hesitantly, Rhys began to step towards the older man, taking a quick second to check and make sure his pistol was still tucked into its holster, just in case. He saw the man’s shoulders tense when he reached for the gun and quickly withdrew his hand, showing that he meant no harm as long as Jack didn’t try anything. It seemed to make Jack relax a little bit but the man was still guarded. Seemed like neither of them could really bring themselves to trust each other.

“Hey, kiddo.” The words were joined by a smile. A somber smile. That definitely wasn’t what Rhys was expecting. But Jack’s lack of a dangerous response allowed Rhys to settle behind him, one hand placed over his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” Jack repeated Rhys’ question incredulously, as if the Atlas CEO should have known exactly what was wrong. He turned around to face him, thick arms crossed over his chest. There was an undeniable pain in his eyes, that was the only thing Rhys noticed. “You want to know what’s wrong, kid?” All Rhys could do was nod. 

Jack started to walk around the room, which mostly resembled a normal bedroom aside from the cameras in each corner. His hands were locked behind his back, blunt nails digging into his tan skin. “All of a sudden...I’m in your head. Your stupid little head. And I hated that whole thing from the start, kid. But when I saw that you idiots were after a vault? I thought I might as well make myself at home. Yeah, I was using ya at first. But I saw some great friggin’ potential in you, Rhys. You could’ve made a badass president. I-”

“You tried to use me as a meat suit.”

“Don’t interrupt me, princess. I _know_ I was wrong to do that. But c’mon, I just wanted a friggin’ body, I was tired of hanging out in your head 24/7. But kid...fuck, I wish I had never done that. It took me _years_ to make Hyperion into what it was, to make Helios what it was. And then I get hungry for power again and I help destroy everything I worked so damn hard for. Do you understand how much I lost, kid? I let Hyperion slip through my fingers, Helios is a mess of scrap now and before all of that? I lost my life because of those dickhead vault hunters and...and I lost my _fucking_ daughter, Rhys. That’s all I’ve been thinking about. And now that I’m in a body, I feel it. I feel all of it. The pain, the sorrow, the anger, the most...intense grief I’ve ever felt. I could have saved her, you know. If I wasn’t so damn careless I could have saved my Angel. She could be alive right now but she’s not because of me and those fucking bandits. She...fuck, she wasn’t much younger than you, kid. A good few years but still. She had so much life left to live, she had so much time to learn to control her powers and then finally _live_ like she wanted to. I could have saved her, Rhys, I could have saved her.”

Jack was in front of him now, large hands desperately clutching onto the sides of his jacket as his head buried into Rhys’ inked neck, startling the younger man for a moment. All Rhys could feel were wet, hot tears on his skin and suddenly, everything clicked. Rhys went through hell when Jack was around. But he never for a second stopped to think about how bad it must have been for the other man. Suddenly, a wave of guilt washed over him. Jack had gone through so much shit and Rhys just...tore him out of his head and shoved him back into nothingness again. The logical part of him knew he had to. Jack had been trying to kill him. He was dangerous. But that didn’t stop him from feeling some sort of guilt for what he did.

After a moment of hesitation, Rhys finally gave in and wrapped his arms around the older man, allowing him to sob into his neck and let out everything he had kept locked inside for so long. It almost physically hurt to see Jack this way. The all powerful, terrifying man had just...broken down to nothing but pain and grief. The man who used to be larger than life was now clutching onto Rhys like his life depended on it. A part of him started to wonder if it was a good idea to bring Jack back at all. But there was a reason for it. A reason Jack had to see for himself.

“Let me show you something.” Rhys peeled himself away from Jack’s hold after standing there with him for a few minutes, internally yelling at himself for already missing the feeling of their bodies against each other. Now wasn’t the time for his fantasies. Jack looked at him in confusion but soon straightened up, thumbs wiping against his masked face to get rid of any evidence that he had been crying. After a moment, Handsome Jack was back. There was just a certain posture and look on his face that made him look...like himself. Like the strong and powerful man Rhys had once admired.

“Better not be your shrine to me, kid. Your obsession with me is still pretty creepy.” Rhys just rolled his eyes and took Jack’s arm, leading him to the door while going through the list of rules. 

“No leaving my side without letting me know. No running off the minute we get outside. And don’t even try to overpower me, I won’t-”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on, you gave me a new body and shit, kiddo. There’s no way I would do that kind of shit. Not right away, at least.”

Rhys glared at him.

***

“You really expect me to trust you, kid?”

“Holy shit, just close your fucking eyes, Jack.”

“Language.”

Rhys was about to make a comment about how he was just swearing up a storm just a few minutes ago but stopped himself before he could get it out. He knew the only reason Jack swore like that was because he was breaking down and it would be shitty for him to use that against the guy. But despite the mild argument, Jack did close his eyes with an exaggerated sigh. “I still don’t trust you but whatever.”

“You don’t have to. Just come on.” Rhys took Jack’s arm once more and started to lead him out of the Atlas building, occasionally glancing towards the older man to make sure his eyes were still closed. Eventually, they made it out of the building and Rhys began to take him around the back, only partially noticing goosebumps forming on the other man’s skin.

“I hate Pandora air.”

“You realize that’s a really stupid thing to hate, right?”

“Um, does it look like I care?”

“Just open your eyes, Jack.”

Jack’s eyebrows raised but he still complied, opening his eyes as his head was positioned upwards. It took him a minute to realize what he was staring at. But then the memories of Helios’ crash came flooding back, causing his jaw to drop and his body to tense up. In front of him, up in the night sky, in front of Elpis...was Helios. Looking as if nothing had ever happened all those months ago. It was right there...but how?

Spinning around, Jack turned to face Rhys, who had been watching him with a small smile on his face. “I...how...how did this...what...” He trailed off, looking back over his shoulder to admire the space station once again.

“I had it rebuilt. It would have taken a whole year or...maybe even two. But I kind of...followed your way of dealing with things and scared the shit out of them to make it go faster. Once it was finally up and ready, I had your operation done and I was just...waiting for the right time to show you.” Rhys offered an awkward smile as he rubbed at the back of his neck with his cybernetic hand. 

“Why? Why did you do this?” None of it made any sense to Jack. There had to be some sort of catch. This was the kid that made his life even more hell than it already had been. What, did he rebuild Helios just to rub it in his face and make him suffer even more? He didn’t know what to expect at this point. 

Rhys just shrugged, robotic fingers toying with the ends of his slicked back hair before it lowered to reach into the inside of his jacket. From there, he pulled out a picture frame. Inside...was the picture of Angel that Jack kept on his desk for so long. The frame was brand new, though it was obvious that some of the edges of the actual picture were slightly burned off from the whole crash. Rhys extended it out towards Jack, who had already looked like he was going to start crying again. This just seemed to push him right back over the edge.

Large hands gripped the picture, clutching it to his broad chest as he dropped to his knees. Jack’s eyes squeezed shut, seeming to be trying hard not to completely break down again. But Rhys could tell just by how his bottom lip quivered that the picture meant more to Jack than he had realized. Kneeling down, Rhys hesitantly placed on hand over Jack’s, temporarily turning his attention to the man in front of him. 

“Jack, I...I’m happy with where I am in Atlas. I think I’ve been running it pretty smoothly so far but Hyperion...Hyperion needs their leader back, okay? I’m not fit for that position. But you are. You always have been. What’s going to happen is...we’re gonna get you back on your feet. Then you and I will go to Helios so you can reclaim your title of Hyperion’s president. I may not trust you with myself, but I trust you with Hyperion, Jack. And right now, Hyperion needs you.” Jack just watched him in disbelief as he spoke, his fingers still curled tight around the edges of the frame. And they just sat there for what felt like an eternity, staring, waiting.

In a flash, the picture was dropped from Jack’s hands. And those same hands moved up to cup Rhys’ face, holding him in place while Jack leaned in and melded their lips together. Rhys’ first reaction was to yell and push him away. But his body did the complete opposite. After a moment of shock, his mismatched eyes fluttered shut and he returned the kiss. Both hands came up to grasp onto the collar of Jack’s leather jacket, pulling him close until he fell back into the dirt with a soft ‘thud’. It didn’t seem to faze the two of them though. Jack merely straddled Rhys’ hips and continued on. In his daze, Rhys eventually found himself with his tongue gliding along Jack’s and one of Jack’s hands tangled into his hair. 

Rhys had to fight the urge to whine out once Jack tilted his head back to break the kiss, however the man just leaned in again. Though this time, it was to press their foreheads together, their lips just barely ghosting against each other and their noses pressed together. Both of Rhys’ hands smoothed out over Jack’s chest, taking a moment to just _feel_ him. Soon, Jack pressed one last kiss to Rhys’ parted lips before he whispered three words that Rhys would never, ever forget.

“Thank you, kiddo.”


End file.
